March 28, 2008

Patria Potestas (Daddy Power!)

When I first started this blog, I never really believed that anyone would be interested in hearing a guy blather on about fatherhood.

After all, let's face it. We still live in a world where men are not really encouraged to discuss their inner feelings. Most of us just don't want to hear about it.

If society has taught us anything, it's that there's a fine line between being a strong, confident man who is in touch with his feelings and being a giant wuss who cries at every father-daughter dance, likes to bake banana bread, and loves Jane Campion movies. Iron Man meet Iron John.

So yeah, really, who the fuck would want to listen to some random NYC Asian-American dude talk about being a dad?

But four years, ten pounds, and two colonoscopies later here I am. Still standing.

In fact, this is my 337th post. It's hard to believe. 337 times I've released my mental diarrhea out into the public arena. Who knew I even had that much to say?

Since its inception, this blog has been my own personal soapbox. It not only serves as a place for me to transcribe my personal journey into fatherhood but also lets me vent about the truly important issues of the day that seriously affect all of us.

Like sitting at the pediatrician's office yesterday, I jotted down an observation. Look, I wrote it on this napkin. It says: DO SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT BABY DROOL. You see, that's the joy in writing this blog. Taking on the big guys.

Anyway, four years ago when I started this site, there weren't really any dad bloggers around. In fact, as far as I knew, it was just me, Greg, LOD and a small handful of others.

Then, along came Dutch, Danny, and Matthew. Pretty soon, more and more dads started entering the blogosphere. It's almost as if they started springing up in waves. I loved it. I've always enjoyed reading new dad blogs and wanted to give all of them as much attention as I possibly could. In fact, whenever I had free time, I'd do variouswrite-upsintroducing all the new dad blogs as they came online.

As I've said many times before, mommy blogs are like the giant 800-lb gorilla of the parenting blogosphere. They are an amazing revolutionary force of sheer will, spirit, and determination. They're fantastic and I love all of them. (Don't forget I was always on your side, ladies, 'cause I don't want to get hurt in the coming revolution. And by the way, don't you all look sexy today! Did you lose some weight? Is that a new haircut?)

What the hell was I talking about again? Ah yes, mommy blogs as 800-lb gorillas. Well, if that's the case, then daddy blogs are like the tiny gnat on the gorilla’s ass. Although our numbers are growing larger by the day, in all honesty, most people don’t even know we exist.

Alltop is an amazing, new kind of site. If you are interested in celeb gossip or politics or gaming or fashion or geeky stuff, the top posts in a wide variety of different genres are covered all in one place, without you having to load anything into a feed reader. It's absolutely brilliant.

The fact that there are now enough dad bloggers out there to justify their own channel on Alltop is amazing to me and warms the cockles of my soul. At last count, Alltop listed 81 different daddy blogs! How cool is that? I can't wait to see more and more added to the list.

Thanks to Guy and AllTop for recognizing the growing popularity of Dad bloggers. Now, go check them out here.

And if any of you know some other dad bloggers out there who either aren't on the list or I've never mentioned before, leave their URLs in the comments below.

Speaking of fathers...Al Copeland (the mack daddy of fried chicken and legendary founder of the Popeyes restaurant chain) passed away this week. I was so upset that I poured out some cajun gravy and dirty rice for my homie last night. Rest in peace, Al. Thanks for making the world a better place than it was before you entered it.

That's awesome! I really enjoy reading the Daddy blogs. I like to see the parenting perspective from the other side of the gender debate just because I *do* think there are some fundamental differences in how women and men tend to approach parenting.

What do you mean, I look sexy today? Are you being sarcastic? What haircut? Now you're just mocking me, aren't you? OH, the weight loss... yeah, that's it. Hmmm, still not convinced... you ARE mocking me...
I do love daddy blogs. I remember when I first discovered this blog and Daddy in a Strange Land, I was so excited to have found role models, great ones!, for PN and encouraged him to check you guys out. Funny story - one of the posts that made me laugh out loud was the one in which you talked about feeding Peanut out of MetroDog's bowl... PN didn't get it and was quite sure HE was a better dad for condemning the act of feeding one's child out of the canine family member's bowl. Oh, the irony.
Thank goodness daddy bloggers are sticking around... otherwise I may still be clueless about the good dads out there!

It's nice to see a Dad blog out here! I'm new to the blog thing, but not new to the dad thing. I've just started my blog and am still trying to get the hang of it. It's kinda hard to know what to write when nobody vists. Anyway, thank you for allowing my url. Please feel free to give advice.
Thanks

Congrats on your posts! I have really appreciated reading a father's point of view as my husband is typical in his inability to express himself. You even noticed that I've lost 10 pounds AND got my haircut on Tuesday. My husband has not. Well done, MetroDad. Well done.

I met Guy Kawasaki at a conference in Cabo a few years ago. Great guy. Very approachable. Let him tell you the story about how he turned down the offer to be the CEO of Yahoo because it was an hour drive each way from his house.

He says it's the "second billion dollars" he missed that really pisses him off though.

Keep groovin MD. I couldn't agree more about the fine balance about writing about fatherhood. Though no matter what you write someone will call you a wuss, and then three minutes later another person will call you a mommy basher.

Whenever I a feeling a bit down, a bit like a crappy rubbish mum, I come here and read your stories and laugh and feel good. Not because you make me feel like I am better - but because you make me feel like I am normal!! thanks METRODAD and PEANUT and BOSSLADY. You lot rock.

I rarely venture into the world of mom blogs. Those women can be scary! Actually, I do have a few favorites, but mostly I read dad blogs.

My own is celebrating its 4th anniversary this month. It's a fun hobby. I just enjoy learning from other dads, hearing the latest parenting news, and reaffirming my belief that this is the greatest job in the world.